Privacy & terms

Privacy notice

What we collect and why

• Chefs: the listing details you give us (name, location, bio, photos, links and anything else on the form) so we can publish your listing. Your private email is used only to send you update links, review notifications and, if you opt in, job alerts. It is never shown on the site.
• Reviewers: your review and the name you choose to show are published. Your email is kept private and used only if we need to check a review.
• Retreat hosts posting jobs: your job details and contact details are emailed to listed chefs who have opted in to job alerts, so they can contact you. Jobs are not published on the site.
• Supporters: if you make a contribution, Stripe processes the payment and sends your receipt. We see your name, email and the amount, and use them only for our records and to send a thank-you.
• Visitors: we don't track you, run analytics or ask you to log in.

Our lawful basis

We publish listings and reviews, and handle job posts, because you asked us to and it is in our legitimate interest to run the directory. We send job alerts only to chefs who have opted in.

Who else handles your data

We use a few trusted services to run the site: Tally (forms), Google (spreadsheet and email) and Cloudflare (website hosting). Our forms use Google reCAPTCHA to block spam and bots; it checks that a real person is filling in the form and may set its own cookies, under Google's privacy policy. Some may process data outside the UK; where they do, they use safeguards approved under UK law. We never sell your data or share it for marketing.

How long we keep it

• Listings come down 12 months after they were last updated unless renewed, and we delete them soon after.
• Reviews stay with the chef's listing for as long as it is live.
• Job posts are deleted within 3 months of the retreat date.

Your rights

You can ask to see, correct or delete your data, or object to how we use it, using our contact form. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the ICO at ico.org.uk.

Terms of use

• Listings are free. Chefs are responsible for making sure their listing is accurate, that they own or have permission to use their photos, and that they hold any insurance, food hygiene certificates and permissions their work needs.
• We check submissions, but don't verify them. Listings and job posts are supplied by chefs and hosts and are subject to approval before publishing or sending. To verify details, please carry out your own due diligence by checking references, insurance and food hygiene certificates directly before booking.
• We're a directory, not an agency. Any booking is an agreement directly between the host and the chef. We aren't a party to it and don't take a commission.
• We reserve the right to remove any listing, review or job post at any time and at our discretion, including content that is inaccurate, out of date, misleading, offensive or unrelated to retreat catering. We may also edit content to fix formatting or remove personal details.
• Job posts must be for genuine work and must not discriminate on grounds such as age, sex, race, religion or disability.
• Liability: we take care to run the site well but can't guarantee it will always be available or error-free, and we aren't responsible for arrangements made between hosts and chefs. Nothing here limits liability that can't be limited by law.
• These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.

Reviews policy

• Reviews must be from people who have genuinely worked with or eaten food cooked by the chef. Chefs may not review themselves, and reviews must not be paid for or given in exchange for a reward.
• We check new reviews before they appear, to keep out fake, abusive or off-topic ones. We publish all genuine reviews, positive or negative, newest first.
• Reviews from our previous site have been carried over as they were left.
• Testimonials supplied by a chef are labelled as such, with a link to the original where possible.
• If you think a review isn't genuine, let us know via the contact form and we'll look into it, removing it while we check where appropriate.

Supporting the directory

• RetreatChef.co.uk is free for chefs and hosts. If you'd like to help cover its running costs, you can make a voluntary contribution of any amount through our "Support the directory" link.
• Contributions are entirely optional. They don't buy any extra visibility, and they never affect listings, reviews, review counts or the order chefs appear in.
• RetreatChef.co.uk is run by Kirsten Huesch, trading as EatNourishGo. It is not a registered charity, so contributions aren't charitable donations and can't be claimed under Gift Aid.
• Payments are taken securely by Stripe; we never see or store your card details. If you pay by mistake, contact us within 14 days and we'll refund you.
• The "Founding member" badge marks chefs who were listed before the directory became free. It is a thank-you, not a paid feature or a quality rating, and doesn't affect order or reviews.

Cookies

This site doesn't set cookies or use tracking. Our fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which means your browser connects to Google to fetch them. Our forms (run by Tally) use Google reCAPTCHA to block spam, which may set cookies needed for that check.

Contact

For questions, updates or removal requests, please use our contact form. We aim to reply within a few working days.